Episode Guide
Just Dunk Me – | Review Score – 3/5 Don’t Get Eaten – | Review Score – 3/5 A Rainbow in Beige Boots – | Review Score – 3/5 It’s Agony and I’m Ravenous – | Review Score – 3/5 Don’t Get Attached – | Review Score – 3/5 Oh Goodie, I’m the Winner – | Review Score – 3/5 Making Dead Things Look Nice – | Review Score – 3/5 Hello, Losers – | Review Score – 3/5 Killing Eve is one of those shows that always punched above its weight. Season 2 is arguably where this show peaked and since then, the writing has been on a consistent downward spiral. Now onto its fourth and final season, Killing Eve plummets to even lower heights with a poorly written, poorly plotted mess that’s as meandering and drawn out as it is unsatisfying for fans that have stuck with this one since the beginning. Before we dive into this messy season, it’s worth remembering that Killing Eve’s story has never really been the beating heart of this series. Instead, the driving force has been the excellent characterisation between the show’s two lead characters, Villanelle and Eve. These two have crackling chemistry together and their turbulent love/hate relationship has ultimately helped to elevate the weak story material. With that in mind, season 4 picks up some time after the events of season 3. Konstantin is off in Russia playing politics, Eve has turned into a ruthless, cold assassin, while Villanelle has become holier than thou, dead-set on making changes to her life. Oh and Carolyn is off galivanting in the sunny recesses of Europe. However, they’re all called back into action with the threat of The Twelve looming over them. This group, if you’ll remember, are the deadly assassins that essentially play the role of puppet masters, and they need to be stopped no matter what. It’s a simple enough set-up but the new showrunner, Laura Neal, wildly misses the mark. To coin an old Fifa term “this kid couldn’t hit a barndoor with a machine gun.” The season not only bungles its two main characters, it also introduces several new players that have barely any depth and somehow get better endings than Villanelle and Eve. Now, I won’t divulge any spoilers here but if you thought the Games of Thrones ending was bad, wait until you see what Laura Neal and her team have cooked up for the end of this one. It’s not pretty. Before we get there though, the story and pacing of this fourth season is all over the place. At times the story meanders through pointless subplots, while other times it rockets through plotlines leaving big holes in its wake. At one point, a character is arrested and all hope looks lost. But then the next episode they’re freed by another character and it’s never brought up again. But going back to those earlier character gripes, Killing Eve doesn’t really know how to handle its players, nor does it seem to have any understanding of what made this show click all those years ago. Eve and Villanelle are largely separate for almost the entire season, with the latter handled extremely poorly. In fact, during the middle portion of episodes we only see Villanelle in a few scenes, replaced instead with a woman named Helene, who happens to be part of The Twelve. Now, The Twelve has been the least interesting part of Killing Eve for a while but Season 4 doubles down on their threat and presents them as a massive antagonistic force that needs to be stopped. While that in itself is fine, the final fight to stop them HAPPENS OFF-SCREEN. For all of its build-up and hype, Killing Eve falls flat on its face. It drags its fans through the mud, meandering around plotlines and character tropes that just don’t work. And worst of all, it tops that off with an insulting final episode that rushes through its plot to pat itself on the back with a massive THE END. To quote Lord of the Rings, “If this is to be our end, then I would have them make such an end, as to be worthy of remembrance.” Killing Eve’s will be remembered all right. Remembered as one of the worst finishes to a TV show in recent memory. Move over Game of Thrones, there’s a new champion atop that rotten podium. 2/10
